Feelin' the Holiday Spirit

Last Sunday we bought our first Christmas tree for the condo. It's about 5 feet tall, we don't have a large living room so a small one will do. Me, my husband and the kids went to Home Depot near the Great Mall to pick up our Noble Fir. It was about 35 bucks all together (20 for the tree and 13 for the stand) plus tax. After we bought the tree, my husband took us to dinner at Outback. Bloomin' Onion was delish and so was the Wallaby Darn (peach Belinni). It was a nice night with just the four of us. We went home, put up our Christmas tree and we all contributed to decorating it. First, we wrapped the tree with white lights. Then put on the silver and red ornaments. I bought an "A" ornament and a "E" ornament, A for Alexa and E for Elijah. Those went towards the very top of the tree. We also put a glass cross near the top as well and a silver ornament that says Believe. My son chose this huge blue star for his ornament at the store, you would think that the star would stick out like a sore thumb, but it actually puts more color on the tree. My husband and I laughed with adoration when he put it on because the blue star suits him (it says Elijah). Comcast has holiday hits on one of the music channels, so Christmas music was playing softly in the background. It was perfect. This is when I'm at my happiest- doing simple things with the fams.

Vocab:

uxorious: Excessively submissive or devoted to one's wife.

mellifluous: Sweet or musical; pleasant to hear.

Almost the end

Class today was a nightmare. I let my nerves get the best of me during my presentation. I practiced too, but each word that came out just plain sucked (no flow to it at all with pauses in between). As I walked out the door, I was like what the F just happened. I guess I couldn't blame the folks for dozing off or looking at their laptops. But, really? At least pretend like your listening a**holes. Thanks to the ones who were polite and went through the torture with me.:) Besides feeling super disappointed in myself, I over analyzed this single event and summed it up to predict how the rest of my public speaking engagements are going to be like. Awesome. I know this was just one moment, but I'm really beating myself up for it.

Anyway, now its time to study for Finals. Yippee. I feel relief that it will all be over soon and at the same time anxious. The only thing that is keeping me somewhat sane right now are my kids. If I give up now, I'll not only let myself down, but Elijah and Lex as well. Why do I feel like giving up? Well, its just all bad (not gonna go into detail). The last thing I need is to throw myself a pity party and I don't want anyone else thinking that is what I'm all about.

Vocab:

beloved: 

adj- Dearly loved

noun- A much loved person.

abrogate:

Repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement).

Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving holiday seemed to be an overall success. Thursday we went to my in-laws. I made ham, baked salmon, and mash potatoes. It was a load, but I forced myself to do it.We also brought apple cider and a pumpkin pie. The party started at about 1pm. We ate, sang karaoke, and played pictionary. On Friday, we went up to San Francisco where we celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family. This is my mom's side which consists of her sisters, one brother and his wife, and my grandparents. On the ride to San Francisco I sometimes get a little anxious because there has always been some type of drama going on. I really hate it, but its no surprise to me because I'm accustomed to the craziness of it all. The party started at about 12:30 and ended at 11pm, an all day and night event. We have the best food. Moist turkey, Filipino Food, pies, appetizers, foodnetwork appetizers- the works. After eating, we play board games. Starts off with Taboo and then ends with Pictionary. Next we lounge in the living room on the couches where we talk, sleep, and watch movies. Then talk, sleep, and watch movies. Did I say talk, sleep, and watch movies? lol Anyway, the ladies decide to leave the men at my grandpa's and go shopping. I end up buying two shirts for my daughter. After the mall we go back to my Grampa's house. One of my uncles suggest we go to the pier to walk around. Thus began the drama of the night. Its between my aunt and uncle. They argue because my uncle doesn't want to go. The whole family has to migrate to a separate room to let them have privacy while we fiddle with our thumbs and wait. Some of us argue in whispers over who's right (my aunt or my uncle). My aunt is pregnant, so I was really worried about her.They stop arguing and agree to go, but in separate cars.We end up all going to fisherman's wharf. We take pictures by the huge Christmas tree, drink hot coco, and then go back home.

Vocab:    

cosmological: pertaining to the branch of astronomy dealing with the origin and history and structure and dynamics of the universe; "cosmologic science"; "cosmological redshift"; "cosmogonic theories of the origin of the universe"

covetousness: is the inordinate love of wealth, and the power that wealth gives, whether it is manifested by miserly hoarding or by lavish spending. It is a peculiarly earth-bound sin, looking to nothing beyond the rewards of this life. 

Papers papers papers

We are now nearing the end of the semester and the pressure is on. With all my school work and issues I have at home, I am seriously mentally f*cked. I'm trying to exert all my worry and stress into a focused state right now. I'm trying to think of a thesis for a term paper coming up. Its on the Somali Civil War. I'm interested in this war because it is on-going and involves international help. I have to really know every aspect of this war because I'm doing a presentation on it this Monday.

Based on my research so far, I've learned about how the opposing sides to the civil war involves the insurgents which is the Shabab and Somali pirates. Since Somalia is a failed state and because their government has collapsed, their are many civilians who are just waiting to be saved from violent wars amongst different tribes. Many of them are Somali refugees who fled to Kenya (a neighboring state), but most are still in Somalia.

I hope I can finish my paper up by Sunday. Have a good weekend! Tootles!

Vocab:

vituperative: Bitter and abusive.

pogram: A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres. The term usually carries connotation of spontaneous hatred within the majority population against certain (usually ethnic) minorities, which they see as dangerous and harming the interests of the majority.

Time to Reboot

This past week my husband and I have been trying to implement juicing into our diet. My in-laws showed us a documentary called Food Matters. Seeing this documentary really made me interested in changing the way we eat. One of the speakers in this doc mentioned, the easy part is saying you want to be healthy; but for most people- they opt out of taking action on being healthy because they have to be responsible for the way they live. There should be more health care professionals advocating on how nutrition is important.  It will save many trips to the doctor and can prevent diseases. In Food Matters, one of the doctors said good health doesn't make the big bucks and conventional medicine are slow killers. We see how prescription drugs are evolving today. There's a drug out to cure nearly everything. Feeling tired lately? Here take a drug. Do you have anxiety? Here take a drug. Chris Rock mocks the pharmaceutical industry by saying in one of his stand-up comedies, "soon we'll be seeing commercials like this.. do you go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning?"  LOL


After seeing Food Matters I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Then I watched the Gerston Miracle. I strongly recommend seeing these documentaries. If my pockets were deep, I'd buy everyone a juicer and supply them with fruits and vegetables.

An individual who is taking many prescriptive drugs and wants to get off of them can do it by changing their diet. Juicing for ten day straight and eating no solid food may seem really strict. So, juicing and eating some solids is an exceptionally good diet as well. I noticed I haven't been having cravings for solid food after drinking juice. I still eat solids but not as much. The juice we make consists of carrots, kale, apples, celery, lemon, cucumber and ginger. The amount of each fruit or vegetable can vary depending on how you like the taste. If you want it more sweet, then add more apple. You can even add agave (organic sweetener).

We picked up the juicer at Costco (Jack LaLanne Ultimate Power Juicer). I believe you can even get one at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Vocab:

potentialities:
The state of being potential.

Inherent capacity for growth, development, or coming into existence.

Something possessing such capacity.

 

aggrandizement:

The act of increasing the wealth or prestige or power or scope of something; "the aggrandizement of the king"; "his elevation to cardinal"

 

Chick flicks

Cool. After ten minutes, I've finally come up with something to talk about. Movies! Why I'm thinking about Zach Braff?, I really don't know. He was a complete dick in the movie The Last Kiss, but ironically I still liked his character. This movie is about if people should deserve second chances after infidelity. I like how they incorporated the older couple (the pregnant chicks mom) and how they had their issues after years of marriage. Their story showed how relationships may not always remain a basket of fruit. There's going to be ups and downs. Another chick flick I like is Lost In Translation, which is one of my faves. I understand both Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray's characters. I always wonder what Johansson whispers to Murray at the very end of the movie. "thank you for hanging out with me" or "I won't forget you" or "come back so we can sing karaoke all over again" or "get me the F up out of this place"...lol! I don't know.

Why did I title this chick flicks? I'm thinking of action movies now. Another one of my faves is Spy Games. Robert Redford kicks a**. I love his character, he doesn't bullsh*t. He advises Pitt by basically telling him to get the job done and get out.

Now the Twilight series is one of my guilty pleasures as well. There's just something about a bunch of good looking vampires and werewolves fighting amongst each other...can't really put my finger on it. Okay, I know what it is. Just like the rest of the chicks who love this series, I wish Robert Pattinson would just magically appear in my room. Him or Taylor would be fine. I love me some werewolf too. Breaking Dawn is coming out in about 14 days. But who's counting? Only crazed fanatics would do that.

Vocab:      

jen:
Confucian word for humaneness.

progeny:
A descendant or the descendants of a person, animal, or plant; offspring: "the progeny of mixed marriages".

The path I'm walking

I've been sitting here trying not to think of any more family drama to blog about. I just tried to skim through the news to find any interesting articles to write on. After finding none and deciding not to force myself to write about one, I am wondering why I picked Political Science as my major. Its sad to even ask myself this now that I'm close to graduation. Throughout high school and while I was attending a community college, history was my favorite subject. As I tried to pick a major for my college career, my counselor at Evergreen community college advised me to go with Political Science; she said since I wanted to do something in the "legal" field, Political Science is the best choice for me.  I have no regrets about choosing this major because I really enjoy exploring the different fields within Political Science. The only thing I'm contemplating is what the hell I'm going to do after I graduate. I haven't been involved in any clubs or nonprofit organizations. It's not because I don't want to, I just don't have the time. Anxiety is at an all time high for me right now. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but I don't see law school in the plans for me at this moment. Its tough as it is to be attending college and taking care of a family at the same time. Four more years of school is not very appealing. I've always wanted to be a teacher (don't know exactly what subject yet), but I changed my mind because I've been told what salary to expect if I chose this profession. I know now that this isn't true because I could always aim for teaching at the college level if I wanted a bit more income. But this would mean I'd have to get a Ph.D. So, I would still need four to six more years of school to accomplish this. What lies in my plans after I graduate is to jump on the private sector wagon and get any type of business job. Hopefully, I could work in human resources and a Political Science degree is something the prospective company would accept. This seems more logical to me because my husband wants to return back to school to get his Masters. He has a B.S. in MIS (Management Information Systems). We are blessed because he found employment as an engineer in this scary recession. I'm fortunate to not be working right now. Hmm, well...in a way I am. Being a stay-at-home mom is work. I was thinking if I had a full time job, I'd be failing in all of my classes. The last job I had before I was a stay-at-home mom was working as an administrative assistant at Yahoo Inc. One of the reason's why I wanted to return back to school, was I once scheduled an interview for a high school buddy of mine for a position at Yahoo. I'm a high school graduate. She graduated from college and was offered a position that I knew I was also capable of doing. I guess you could say I was a little envious of her and my job as an administrative assistant seemed to be monotonous and boring. I needed a bigger challenge. Speaking to other colleagues on my team, there was not much room for upward mobility because I had no seniority. I thought school was the faster way. So, four years later...here I am. This is the path I chose. The path I'm walking.

vocab:    

pacifistic:
opposed to war.

monistic materialism:    
the philosophical concept which sees the unity of matter in its globality. For the materialistic monist the cosmos is “one” and comprehensive, then a “one-all” made up of parts such as its effects. The matter is then originary and cause of all reality.